Page 42 of Daniel's King

“Kye, why did it have to be Daniel. Do you know? It would have made more sense for it to be his younger brother, as he was running the business.”

He gave a smile. He had already thought of the same thing, from the looks of things.

“I thought of that when I found out who his brother was. It was because Simon wanted nothing to do with Katherine. He saw her for what she was: a woman who cheated on just about every person she went out with, except Kevin. Plus, Daniel’s dad thought it would pull Daniel out of thephasehe was going through. You know they didn’t believe he was gay, right?”

I nodded. Daniel had already told me that, so it didn’t come as a surprise.

“Anyway, the arrangement was beneficial to both families, as it got the Phillips off losing their business to Kevin, and it saved face for the Coopers having to admit their eldest son was gay. The only ones that lost out were Daniel, Katherine, and Kevin. Which brings me to the next point. Who had the most to lose, and therefore, wanted the biggest revenge?”

We all knew the answer to that, but it was Mason who answered the question for us all.

“Kevin.”

“Exactly. And that is where my contact comes in. He has heard rumours flying around about a young computer hacker that has been splashing a lot of cash about, far more than usual. It just so happens they were roommates at university. I’ve never had any dealings with him myself, but my contact has, and he reckons he is more than capable of doctoring surveillance videos. He was also recently seen driving a black Mercedes…the same model as Daniel’s.”

That got my attention. My eyes immediately flew to Kye. He was already on the same wavelength as me. If we could prove that this guy was driving the car that supposedly ran Kevin off the road and link him to Kevin, Daniel would be in the clear.

Jayden spoke. “So, what do we need to do to prove this, then?”

Again, the sly smirk that we all recognised came over Kye’s face. “Why do you think I’m not there? The man in question has gone underground, funnily enough since yesterday afternoon. I had been tracking him up until then, but he had just disappeared. However, my contact knows how to get hold of him. He is working on it now and trying to arrange a meeting for us. He’s not using my name, because we suspect he knows about all of us if he has traced Daniel to Richard’s home. So, he is using yet another one of my aliases. If we can meet him, I’m hoping to use my gentle persuasion techniques to learn the truth. However, I am going to need you, Richard, and Tyler to work on the video evidence. See if you can get the real surveillance footage from the scene of the accident. I’m sure if Mason asks Callum nicely, he will let us know where it happened and when.”

None of us were shocked to find out that Kye went by many names. I guessed it made sense in his previous line of work to cover all scenarios.

It was Tyler who spoke next. “I can be up there by this evening if you need me to be. I’m sure Maddie won’t mind, given the situation.”

I knew she wouldn’t mind, but I didn’t want to take Tyler away from her for the weekend. That was their time, time to be with Maddie and the kids.

“Tyler, you don’t need to head up tonight. Just come to the office on Monday. You can stay with me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me there? You know Maddie will try to send me up as soon as I get back, don’t you? She is already worried about you after Mason’s message.”

I laughed. I knew he was right. Maddie had probably already packed his bag by now and had it waiting for him when he got home.

“It’s fine. There really isn’t much we can do today. I’m not in the right frame of mind to do anything right now, as you all know. I need some time to let it sink in and then start afresh on Monday morning. Go and enjoy your weekend, everyone. I will be fine.”

“But, Richard—”

“I will be fine. Now go.”

Everyone said their goodbyes, and I was left alone with Jayden and Nathan. I knew they wouldn’t leave things there. I knew they were all worried about me, the same as I had been when I was involved with them finally finding the ones they loved, but they had their own lives now. I had to deal with this in my own way.

Before they could say a word, I spoke. “Before either of you say anything, I will be okay. I don’t need anyone to babysit me and make sure I don’t do anything stupid. I will probably just sit there all evening going through everything on my laptop and crash at some point. I give you permission to call me in the morning and make sure I am fine. If you don’t get an answer, then and only then can you send someone around. Okay?”

I knew that both of them wouldn’t be happy about this, but I had coped my whole life on my own, and just because I had found the man of my dreams, it didn’t mean that I needed to have someone with me constantly. I watched as Jayden sighed, resigned to the fact that no matter what he said, I wouldn’t give in. He knew how stubborn I could be. He shook his head and smiled.

“Okay, Richard, we will play it your way. But if I end up coming over there tomorrow, there will be hell to pay.”

I knew that was the best I could expect from the pair of them. There was no way they were going to let me go without a small fight. I gave them both a smile and got up from my chair. Jayden immediately stood and walked over to me, engulfing me in a hug.

“Seriously, though. If you need anything, even just someone to talk to, call me. I know Sienna and your mum would never forgive me if anything happened to you.”

It was only then that realisation hit me that I was meant to be taking Daniel to see her tomorrow for dinner. What was I going to tell her? I didn’t want her to know about the whole situation with his wife and her lover. She would probably tell me that I should break things off with him.

“Jayden, what am I going to tell my mum? I was meant to be going to dinner tomorrow with Daniel.”

A concerned look came over Jayden’s face. He realised exactly what I meant.

“Leave that to me. I will come up with some excuse and let you know just in case your mum contacts you. That is the least of your worries right now. Now, if you are sure you are going to be okay, get yourself home and get some rest. We will keep you informed if we hear anything.”

---